Major
Biology
Minor(s)
Leadership Studies; Chemistry
Advisor
Jackson Frasier, Alison
Date
5-2023
Keywords
Burnout, Self-care, Leadership
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Abstract
The purpose of this project is to determine the effects that burnout and poor mental health can have on the ability of health care professionals to effectively do their job and lead others in medicine. Burnout, as defined by Merriam Webster, is “the exhaustion of physical or emotional strength or motivation usually as a result of prolonged stress or frustration.” This is a self-reported quantitative study analyzing information acquired via a survey to determine if there is a relation to burnout and poor mental health in medicine and the ability to effectively lead others and complete work tasks and this will be measured using the Wilson Model of Leadership. The Wilson Model of Leadership is based on five different steps, which are “know yourself,” “lead yourself,” “broaden your perspectives… understand others,” “develop and refine skills,” and “lead others.” The basis is that you must “have your own act together before you can lead others.” The survey was sent to medical professionals in Rhode Island and New York to identify how they rated themselves on the Wilson Model of Leadership steps based on a Likert scale, if they experience burnout, and how they care for themselves. Based on the results of the survey, there was an inverse correlation between a lower rating in the “lead yourself” step and currently experiencing burnout. Seventy-three percent of responses that had a rating of three or below in one of the two questions measuring the “lead yourself” category is currently experiencing burnout. The most common causes of burnout were being unable to escape work off the clock, immense workload, increased patient volume, and long hours resulting in low amounts of recreational time. The most common self-care tactics were exercise, spending time with friends and family, mental recovery practices, and separating their work and personal lives.
Included in
Educational Leadership Commons, Medical Education Commons, Public Health Education and Promotion Commons